China Makes Example of Bo Xilai on Social Media

China's Communist Party used Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo to report the details of the trial of Bo Xilai, a former Party star who is in the process of being taken down on corruption charges.

The court overseeing the case, located in the eastern city of Jinan, set up a Weibo account to peddle information about the proceedings. Such trials have traditionally been held in utmost secrecy in China, but the powers that be seem hell-bent on making an example of Bo, whose wife was
convicted
of murdering a British businessman.

The court's Weibo account, which quickly accumulated more than 300,000 followers, was rather unfettered in its description of the proceedings. The account quoted Bo saying, "I really saw the ugliness of a person who sold his soul," as he spoke of a prosecution witness.

China Doing China Things to Citizens Posting on Social Media

Even as China's Communist Party put Sina Weibo to work for its own purposes, Chinese authorities arrested four people because of posts they made on the site.

The quartet is accused of spreading rumors that "incited dissatisfaction with the government," which is a no-no in China. The subject of their dastardly posts -- no word on whether or not the posts were actually dastardly -- was Lei Feng, a deceased Chinese soldier and Communist Party loyalist who is often portrayed heroically in China.

Sina Weibo has about 300 million users, although there is some
question
about how many of those are ghost accounts.

US Launches Tumblr Blog to Explain Foreign Surveillance

The Office of the Director of National Security has launched a Tumblr blog to provide more information about "lawful foreign surveillance activities" executed by U.S. agencies.

The blog, "IC on the Record," will have official statements, declassified documents, fact sheets, videos, speeches and other content.

The blog was kicked off with a post from U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and has subsequently featured declassified documents pertaining to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

Tumblr earlier this year was acquired by Yahoo, which is among the companies that U.S. authorities have hit up for data as part of their surveillance efforts.

Canada Not Expected to Help Foundering BlackBerry

James Moore, Canada's industry minister, said that Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry will have to pull itself out of its long and well-documented tailspin.

Moore, who was recently appointed, said that the company was a source of pride and added, "we hope that they do well." The government will not, however, be stepping in with assistance or a bailout, he said.

This is in line with previous sentiments from the Canadian government. In 2012, Canadian finance minister Jim Flaherty
said
that the government would not assist BlackBerry the way it did with its beleaguered
auto industry.